Grazio’s smile disappeared.

The black tar covering his face fused with him and his body changed its proportions.

It wasn’t Grazio at all.

”Zoemi…?!”

Ehmi gasped as she wriggled in the tar like a trapped worm.

”Do you know what acids are?”

Zoemi asked, but Ehmi was too focused on fighting with pain to answer.

”No matter. The thing is, there is a very nasty substance called sulfuric acid. As long as it has ‘fuel’ it will melt and carbonize it… That’s how things work for it in nature, that is. That substance is a very scary thing. Now then, a quiz. Do you know what would the fuel be for the copy of sulfuric acid created with mana?”

”AAARGH…! IT BUUURNSS MAKE IT STOOOP!”

That was the only response.

”The answer is… It will eat through mana and carbonize it, making it completely useless. Thanks for using your spell so soon after I injected it into you. It helped spread it very evenly through your entire body.”

Zoemi bowed his head toward crying Ehmi.

”I’m sorry. If that helps, I promise that the pain will end very soon.”

Zoemi kneeled by the red-haired girl whose body was swelling more and more with each second and patted her head.

”I wish there was a better solution to this. I won’t ask for your forgiveness, but I sincerely apologize, I hope you meet Grazio in the next world. Goodby, my wive.”

For a moment his eyes regained life as he gazed at the pain-struck face of the crimson-haired girl.

”Hu-bby…”

*KSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

She sighed and in the next moment she exploded, her remains erupted into a pillar of carbon reaching all the way to the sky.

”…”

*CRACK*

Zoemi closed his eyes and touched the pillar, it instantly shattered and was scattered by the gentle winds in every direction.

Zoemi slowly opened his eyes and looked into the sky with a solemn expression.

He slowly touched his chest.

”She wasn’t Miriette…”

He muttered.

”She wasn’t Miriette, and yet I’m…”

”You damn toy! You’ve got in my way AGAIN! Who do you think you are?!”

Before Zoemi could finish his sentence, someone broke through the black tar from inside the academy building and was glaring at Zoemi while keeping himself afloat in the air.

It was Arisu. The white-haired capture target.

With a tiny difference in his hair and eyes being green at the moment, he was using the wind magic to levitate.

”Oh? Did you want to take her mana for yourself just like you did with her brother’s?”

Zoemi turned toward his opponent and smirked.

”Tsk! A mere toy! You’re just a mere toy, and still, you’re causing so many problems time and time again!”

Arisu clenched his fists and landed. His hair and eyes returned to being white.

”I can sense that Miriette is still inside the building. It seems you still have some survival instinct left in you.”

Zoemi mocked the white-haired youth.

”Of course she’s safe! As are others who I protected! I am a hero, not a freak of nature like you!”

”Pfft…! Hero? You’re calling yourself a hero even though you killed an innocent person? What, did Grazio also get in your way, hero? Or maybe he was secretly some grand villain? Tsk! At least have some decency and don’t try to act as if you’re in the right.”

”…!”

Zoemi laughed mockingly at Arisu who was getting redder the more Zoemi talked.

”His death was necessary. Since m first life I was aware that sometimes sacrifices had to happen to create the best future. Therefore I killed him and took his mana, so he became a part of me. A part of a hero! If anything, he must have felt honored!”

”…”

Arisu’s response made Zoemi stop laughing.

Not because it made sense, mind you.

”…I see. So you are a reincarnation too, huh…?”

Until now Zoemi thought that Arisu simply wanted power to become the next king and that his mother was aiding him.

But if he is a reincarnation…

”That’s right! I am the chosen one! I walk this world again as a chosen hero to protect it and save my love from her curse!”

He declared proudly, making the black-haired boy stop and think…

|That sounds… different than I expected… Did the presence abduct his lover or something…? Wouldn’t be its first time…|

”Hey, Arisu, what’s so special about you?”

Zoemi tilted his head and started slowly circling the white-haired ‘hero’.

”Ha! I’m a hero of course! One that reincarnated multiple times to prepare the perfect outcome, the perfect world that I see fit to exist!”

The white-haired boy was just brimming with confidence.

Honestly, it was weird… Something was definitely not right… Arisu was good at pulling the strings from the shadows, so good in fact that it was annoying, but now… he was full of openings…

Just as if he has already won and could drop boh the act and all cautiousness…

As Zoemi was circling, the mountain of tar was moving and slowly getting absorbed back into him and therefore the academy was resurfacing.

”Where’s little Ehmi…?”

As it was uncovered so were the Aspakeony’s corpse puppets which Zoemi covered with his protection more out of panic than out of the good will.

And now they were asking questions.

”Dead. But now we have a bigger problem.”

Zoemi cut them off and pointed at Arisu.

”Don’t tell me… Did he absorb her mana too?!”

The corpse puppets were in panic.

”No one got to absorb anything out of my wife.”

”Eh…?”

”…?”

Even Zoemi was surprised by how angry he sounded.

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|I will not call out that other me on hypocrisy, because that part is not exclusive to him – but a bit of common decency would be very much appreciated. What an absolute asshole.|

Zoemi scoffed, sounding as if he was rolling his eyes.

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”I made sure she will not fall victim to him.”

Zoemi explained a bit calmer, but he felt his insides getting colder.

It was made to protect Miriette so that Arisu wouldn’t get even stronger and therefore even more dangerous, but it resulted in Ehmi departing from this world in great pain.

Zoemi tried to finish her off as painlessly as he could but Ehmi was far too strong for him to do that. So his hand was forced.

Though he certainly wasn’t happy about that.

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|BULLSHIT!|

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”Zoemi…!”

Just in time to pull the black-haired boy away from his very grim thoughts, a voice he could recognize anywhere resounded.

”…!”

Zoemi turned his head and saw Miriette flying towards him from the academy.

”Miri!”

The cold feeling lingering within his insides remained but his spirit was lifted.

Miriette was safe.

She landed beside him and instantly wrapped herself around his arm.

Zoemi could feel her shivering as she was glaring at Arisu.

It wasn’t her usual glare full of confidence – she was scared – and that made Zoemi become even more cautious.

|But he seems so… weak…!|

Even though he was secretly activating more and more spells laying a thick defense and offense he couldn’t stop thinking that.

Then something flashed and Zoemi felt the presence of someone joining him and Miriette, approaching the two of them from behind.

He didn’t snap back and attack, in fear of hurting Miriette, but he did quickly glance over the newcomer.

It was the gray-haired necromancer, Aspakeony.

She was scooting behind both Zoemi and Miriette’s backs with a fearful expression.

”D-don’t look at me like that. You will protect her, right? So the safest place to be is by her side!”

The chocolate-skinned necromancer explained even before he could ask.

”But…”

He complained.

”Zoemi, it’s fine. Leave her be.”

Miriette squeezed his hand reassuringly.

”…Fine…”

”…”

As the black-haired boy gave in to the dark-haired girl’s words, Arisu was watching them with squinted eyes.

”Zoemi…Zoemi always takes her away from me… In my original life, in all of my past lives, and even now… Zoemi… You sure are an annoying pest, aren’t you? Never mind, I don’t need this copy no matter how closely she resembles her, I’m after the real deal!”

The white-haired young man called out, making sure that his voice would carry even past the trio, to assure he would be noticed.

”…!”

”!!!”

Zoemi could feel both Miriette and Aspakeony tensing up.

”Hey…Just to be clear. Who were you in your past life?”

The black-haired boy asked, nodding his head upwards, almost in a challenge, towards the white-haired young man.

”Ah~ That’s right~!”

Arisu grinned, seemingly very content with that question.

”Now that I have enough mana, I can finally use that spell after all. There’s no reason to hold back anymore.”

He nodded to himself, then he waved his hands dramatically as his hair and eyes turned black.

”Shadow arise! Shadow gate!”

He called and his shadow extended and raised from the already black ground.

Zoemi already prepared a spell to stop him from running away but Arisu’s next words left him stunned.

”Mother! Father! Everyone! I’ve reincarnated and returned to you! It’s me Cherro!”

”…?!”

Zoemi, Miriette, and Aspakeony flinched together as from the small gate a concentrated mass of darkness poured out like some sort of diseased organ.

And then it spilled into eighteen or so people.

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|…now that’s something I didn’t expect…!|

The events on the screen were so surprising that they shocked the anger out of Zoemi without him realizing it.

|That guy, Arisu – or Cherro or whatever – is he a reincarnation in our timeline too?|

He asked, thinking his question to the original personality.

|Unfortunately I can tell you for certain, that Cherro is almost the same way as my master and I are. It’s always the same person, stuck in a time loop.|

|!!!|

The original personality was revealed, and if Zoemi had his body in that world of endless murky darkness, he would have to take a step back, wide-eyed.

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